Pine Ridge, SD — Peter Hill is determined to revitalize Indigenous languages. Over the past 20 years living on the Pine Ridge Reservation, he has observed the rapid decline of Lakota speakers from 6,000 to fewer than 2,000 today. Nine years ago, he launched a Lakota language program that started as an in-home daycare. Today, that program has grown into an immersion language elementary school and a resource library with more than 1,000 children’s books, hundreds of Lakota language learning videos, and dozens of Lakota games and apps. To continue as a leader of this movement and to engage other Native nations, he will seek advanced education in language revitalization and formal opportunities to cultivate leadership skills. He will also develop connections with educators who have led successful language revitalization efforts in other parts of the world.
